Jackson is 3!

Happy birthday to my crazy, silly, clever, sweet 3 year old!

It seems like yesterday you were brand new in my arms.

And now you've been in my arms for 3 years! Time got so weird once I became a mother...some days the hours go so slowly, but always the years go by quickly. One thing is for sure though. Each moment is precious and the moment you entered my world, it became filled with vivid color.

I love you so much, Jackson Wayne! Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweet Pea!

About You Today:

Weight: 29.2 lbs
Height: 38 in
Clothing Size: 2T
Shoe Size: 7

Favorite colors: red and green
Favorite movies: Madagascar and Cars
Favorite animal: Hippo
Favorite TV shows: Blue's Clues and Dinosaur Train
Favorite book: Little Mr/Little Miss books
Favorite song: Jingle Bells (by "Mr Michael Buble)
Favorite food: pizza, mac and cheese, and cake
Favorite toy: LeapPad
Favorite instrument: tuba
Best friends: Natalie and Dylan

You like to play outside...especially at Myles' baseball practices. You like to "go to work with Mommy" and listen to the orchestra. You like to play with your cars, trucks and trains. You like to pretend you are animals (dog, cat, monkey and pig are the most common). You like reciting "5 Little Monkeys". You love listening to music in the car. You know all of your ABCs and numbers up to 12. You are beginning to sound out words. You are a wild sleeper! If you aren't in your crib, you wiggle EVERYWHERE. You are very quick at learning songs and are a very good mimicker. You can work 24 piece puzzles by yourself and 48 piece puzzles with help. You love your brother and give him "little hugs" often. You like to dance (tap dance) and do cartwheels.Your vocabulary is enormous and your speech is clear. My favorite words you use are "yester-morning and yester-night" to refer to anything that happened in the past. I also like "bobbom"...or bottom. You give the best hugs and the gentlest kisses.

I'm A Big Kid Now

Guess who is peeing in the potty?

Thanks to Brandy the Baby Whisperer, 2 days before his 3rd birthday, Jackson is wearing big boy underwear during the day. 

YAY!

Heartbreaker

And once again life got in the way and I have missed Samuel's 15 month post. Samuel is in that stage where he does something new every day. I both love and hate this stage. I love that each new day is filled with excitement and wonderment. I hate that I am forced into the reality that my baby is no longer a baby.

Samuel's personality is one of assertiveness and abounding happiness. He is a ham. When I pull out the camera he says "eeeee" (cheese) and poses. His smile lights up his whole face and his laughter is contagious. 

He giggles all the time. Well, most of the time. For when he is not happy, he lets you know. Loudly. I love it how he whines when he isn't happy and then opens one eye to make sure you are watching.

His favorite toy BY FAR is a ball. Any ball. He loves balls. 

And maracas.

And Daddy Fish.

At Samuel's 15 month check up, he weighed 23 lbs, 6 oz (59%) and was 30 in long (11%).  Short. Well, I guess he had to get SOME of my traits. I suppose I could have guessed that...as he is exclusively in 18 month tops, but I resort to 12 month pants at times for length purposes. 

One morning, Jackson was having a snack of peanut butter crackers. This was one of the days Jackson decided to share with Samuel. And not 3 minutes later, Samuel's poor little face had big red welts on it and he was scratching insanely. I tried to get a picture, but he was too upset to hold still. About 30 minutes later it had disappeared, but I don't think he'll be getting peanut butter again in the near future.

Samuel's favorite food is peas, mashed potatoes and Graduate crunchies. He likes fruit, too. He doesn't like cheese or pasta. He drinks water out of a straw cup and still nurses 3 times a day.

He loves snuggling with his blue bear (which I find completely irresistible).

And he loves his brother.

He is a boy of few words. He mostly grunts, but strangely enough, I can understand what he is saying. 

His actual words are: Jackson, Mama, Dada, Nana, Night Night

And his grunts are: Thank You, Juice, More, Where Is, I Want

And he is great at following simple commands like "come here", "get your shoes", "hold out your arms"...

He loves getting his teeth brushed, brushing his own hair (he'll go into the bathroom and look through the drawer until he finds his comb), and helping put on his clothes.

He is honestly so good and so sweet with a touch of assertiveness. I love this sweet face and this beautiful boy so much! He will be a heartbreaker someday. Happy 16 months, Samuel Wrye!

I'm Walkin'

Sam's walking!

To be fair, he has been walking since March 31, but because I am slack lately, I just haven't caught it on video. So here it is. Plus a bonus of cute on the side.

Home Sweet Home

Wow. The month of March flew by. Flew. Why? Maybe because I was a bit busy...with YPCs and Lollipops and Symphony of Color and oh yeh...MOVING. It literally took 19 days to move. I had to do it gradually because I was so busy with work. But we did it and have been sleeping in our new 3 bedroom townhouse for almost a month now. 

It took Jackson several days to adjust. He was clingy and whiny and threw some MASSIVE tantrums. Luckily, it didn't last long, and both boys love the new place.  I appreciate my parents allowing us to take over the upstairs for two years, but it is very nice to finally have our own place!

I assembled A LOT of furniture. I actually enjoy doing that sort of thing. And I had some good help.

I'd like to thank Pinterest for helping me decorate. In Sam's room, I tried some crayola art. I really liked how it turned out with the exception of the wax that seeped through the outer edges of the tape heart.

All in all, it took about an hour to do. Here it is finished and on the wall:

Our new place also has a playground. The boys enjoy going over to climb and slide and swing. Sam has recently begun to enjoy being outside...especially since he has started walking.

Our first boboball Saturday in the new house:

Here's to many more happy memories and a fresh start.

Easter Parade

We had two fun-filled days of egg hunting and chocolate eating. Maybe a little more of the latter than the former...

First off, our apartment complex hosted an egg hunt on Saturday morning. It was a great turn out on a beautiful day. 

They had the hunt divided into three age groups to make it all fair. Both boys had a great time "searching" for eggs.

And Jackson loved counting his eggs and was delighted with the "treats" found inside (although I took the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...I told him they were really yucky and that I should probably eat those).

On Sunday morning, we woke up to find that indeed the Easter Bunny had come and hid 12 eggs and 2 baskets. Luckily, the Easter Bunny got the memo that the boys are allergic to eggs and didn't need any more sugar, so that clever bunny hid plastic eggs with puzzle pieces inside them. I was amazed that both boys loved hunting for the eggs.

Jackson got the CandyLand game in his Easter basket. He understood the concept and rules of the game, and upon first play (and second) he kicked my butt. It's a sign of things to come, I guess...

Later that evening, we went to my parents' house for pizza and the final egg hunt. Luckily, my dad is in the midst of tax season and hasn't had a chance to cut the grass so the Easter Bunny didn't have to work too hard to hide those things. Jackson, Samuel and Myles had a great time wondering around the tall green grass looking for plastic eggs with MONEY in them. Really, Easter Bunny? 

All in all, we are up one CandyLand game, one Magna Doodle, a water table, about 100 pounds of chocolate and $5.00. Success!

Also, who knew that plastic eggs double as fantastic bath toys?

Happy Easter!

Bye Bye Baby

It had to happen eventually. I didn't want it to...it made me so sad. But...

Sam needed a haircut. And not just a trim. He needed a cut. So I took him to the regular place, put him in the red jeep and gave him a lollipop.

The result? Baby Sam is no more! 

Please welcome Big Boy Sam!

At least my big boy still likes snuggles with his mommy!

Two Little Boys

Love <3